IF Belfast can be kept clean during the Fleadh, with huge crowds in the city centre, why is it filthy the rest of the time?

In a social media post, Green councillor Brian Smyth has detailed the “Herculean effort” behind the Fleadh operation, with two power-washing teams deployed each morning and 120 people – equivalent to almost one in 10 council employees – dealing with litter and bins throughout the day.

Smyth added that “we need to keep up the standard” after the Fleadh.

As footfall in the city centre has reportedly doubled, maintaining the same standard under normal circumstances might require one daily power-wash and 60 full-time cleansing staff.

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That seems like a reasonable expectation for such a basic and important local government function.

If the council needs more money or has decided other spending takes priority, that may be fair enough.

But it requires a proper explanation and justification, especially now everyone has seen what is possible when the council decides cleansing is a priority.

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The Department of Health has said disciplinary action may be taken over 40 incidents of “inappropriate access to patient information” on Encompass, the new digital healthcare records system for Northern Ireland.

While any incident is unfortunate, this is a low number for a system accessible to tens of thousands of staff.

The PSNI reports around a dozen incidents a year with a fraction of the personnel and far more serious disciplinary consequences.

The PSNI’s 2023 data breach is another relevant comparison.

Encompass is a very safe system, isolated from the internet and with multiple layers of protection,........

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